On June 12th 2014, I visited the London set of Avengers: Age of Ultron. In October, we posted our on set interviews with Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. Today we’ve been given the green light to publish our interview with Avengers series director Joss Whedon. Here is a short snippet from Joss explaining why he decided to come back for the sequel:

I didn’t actually want to make the film necessarily. I was ragged from the first one, and so I just turned off my brain. I was like, do not think of cool ideas for the next one. Just get through this. But after a few months when they talked about, um… This is now something that makes sense in my life; do I have anything to say? And so my agent calls, I was in London, and he called me and said there’s a deal that’s worth talking about- time to start to think about whether there’s a movie. And I’m going, all right. I went to a pub and sat down with my notebook, and about forty-five minutes later, my notebook was filled. And I texted my agent “yup” and I have so many things to say and I was kind of surprised. It took me unaware. It was very beautiful.

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Spider-Man/Juno/Whiplash star J.K. Simmons is the second actor to be officially cast in Universal and Legendary Pictures’ King Kong reboot Kong: Skull Island. Hit the jump to learn more about the JK Simmons Skull Island news.

The King Kong prequel Skull Island just got a new title and release date. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starring Tom Hiddleston, the film is now called Kong: Skull Island. Additionally, it has moved from November 4, 2016 to March 10, 2017. It’ll be released in 3D and IMAX 3D.

Disney has released the first look at concept art for Jon Favreau‘s new “live-action” version of The Jungle Book. I use quotation marks around live action because the film will seamlessly blend live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, “using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world.” So basically imagine how James Cameron shot Avatar with some live-action elements but mostly a computer created world populated with photo realistic animals of Life of Pi or Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. See the full piece of Jon Favreau The Jungle Book concept art after the jump

Andy Serkis has been busy lately, running around with Avengers and exploring a certain galaxy far, far away. But it’ll be a while yet before he gets to tromp through the jungle. Warner Bros. has delayed Serkis’ Jungle Book: Origins by a full year, penciling it in for a new date in 2017. More on the Jungle Book Origins release date after the jump. Read More »

The first trailer for Pixar’s summer 2015 release, Inside Out, was really more a reminder of the film’s existence. “Hey, remember us? I know we don’t have a movie in 2014, but we’ve done really awesome work in the past, and next year we’ve got something special for you.”

Now there’s a second look at the Pete Docter-directed film. This one is almost more of a tease because it only touches upon the main characters and doesn’t mention the story. Instead, it focus on the concept – that the emotions in your head are characters. But it’s two minutes of funny, beautiful footage from the movie. With seven months until release, that’ll do.

If you live in Los Angeles and have yet to check out the 4DX theater at the Regal Cinemas L.A. Live, this weekend is the perfect time to do it. You’ll be making history as part of the world’s first 4D Film Festival, taking place as part of the 3D Film Festival on Saturday November 6. Both Penguins of Madagascar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will screen in 4D preceded by a mystery screening and followed by a panel discussing the technology along with virtual reality.

The whole event sounds like something that’s a must attend if you have interest in the future of theatrical exhibition. Below, read more about the world’s first 4D film festival and more. Read More »

Coming into 2014, Jupiter Ascending was one of my most anticipated films of the year. The combination of sci-fi action and the Wachowskis made it look like all the best parts of The Matrix and Cloud Atlas rolled into one. Then the film was delayed from a summer 2014 release to a spring 2015 release and that anticipation began to wane. Maybe it was delayed because of the effects work, as the studio said, maybe they knew the potentially weird movie would get buried in the summer or maybe it was a bit of both. Either way, the seed of doubt had been planted.

Now, the film is almost here. Jupiter Ascending opens February 6 and I’ve heard some early buzz it’s actually pretty good. That’s encouraging, as is this short but sweet new international trailer. Check out the latest Jupiter Ascending trailer below. Read More »

Cutting movies in half is very hip these days. Twilight, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and now…John Woo? Yes, the director of Hard Boiled, The Killer and Face/Off made a two-parter in 2008 with Red Cliff, and he’s doing it again this year with The Crossing. An epic romance set against the tragedy of a capsized ferry in 1949, it stars Zhang Ziyi and was written by Melody Wang, who wrote Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Now, that might sound like it’s John Woo’s Titanic, but it’s much bigger than that. The Crossing is a romance, a disaster film, a war film and more all rolled into one. It truly looks epic.

In China, The Crossing Part 1opens in December and The Crossing Part 2 opens May 2015. There’s no U.S. release date yet. But, based on this trailer, I hope it gets one soon. Read More »